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The Beckham Experiment: An Excerpt

Sports Illustrated has a sneak peek at the forthcoming book by writer Grant Wahl.

Looks like Galaxy fans aren’t the only ones unconvinced of David Beckham’s supposed commitment to the Galaxy.

Landon Donovan:

“He’s not. He’s not shown that. I can’t think of another guy where I’d say he wasn’t a good teammate, he didn’t give everything through all this, he didn’t still care. But with [Beckham] I’d say no, he wasn’t committed.”

Sounds like the Galaxy are going to have a splendid time when/if Beckham returns doesn’t it?

Between Wahl’s book and the whole Michael Jackson debacle, Tim Leiweke is SKROOD!!

’bout time, too!

Ben

Which side are you on…

It’s Lalas, Klein, Donovan etc vs evil empire (brand b).

How the hell should that work out for the rest of the season…

Hope LD stays Captain and the other one if he doesn’t perform gets benched.

Nick replies: Agreed.

Joseph D’Hippolito

Ben, with all due respect, I wouldn’t put Lalas and Klein on the same side. Klein is an honest man, a man with personal integrity. Lalas is a clown who allowed himself to be used (whether by Leiweke or Beckham’s people is a separate issue) just to keep his job — one which, as it turned out, wasn’t worth having.

Givein

Come on all,
Its two different worlds. If you have ever been to any European match you can’t compare any European soccer with the MLS, It had to be very frustrating for DB to come here to the MLS and play at this level no matter who was brought in and what moves were made. And yes Simon Fuller is the Anti Christ. I hope he doesn’t ruin Soccer like he did the music Biz.
I think DB realized he made a HUGE mistake coming to the MLS even with the money he was making that he didn’t even need. I also think his wife had a lot to do with the decision to move. Seems she likes Italy better 🙂

Givein

Joseph D’Hippolito

I will give Beckham the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his first team meal with the Galaxy, however. He knows how much more money he makes than the rest of the team, Donovan included. Would paying for the entire meal out of his own pocket be seen as ostentatious, that he was better than everybody else, that he was trying to buy his teammates’ respect? Beckham is a man who knows the value of good public relations so he probably decided to take the safe course: pay your own contribution to show that you’re (at least, in theory) equal to everybody else on the team.

That also could explain his apparently standoffish behavior with the rest of his teammates.

From the excerpts, I get the idea that this is as much of a conflict between two fundamentally different soccer cultures as much as it is anything else. Vanney’s and Klein’s comments seem to indicate that. If my idea is correct, that means that Leiweke and AEG didn’t perform *any* due dilligence on the possible results of such a cultural conflict. All they saw was dollar signs. Well, they certainly got those…in exchange for their credibility and professional respect.

BTW, I like how Wahl described Leiweke’s firing of Lalas, Gullit and Byrne as “napalming” the front office. I hope Anschutz gets to do the same to Leiweke, and soon.

KingSnake

Grant Wahl rocks. I added the book to my list.

Btw, did you hear about the new Hollywood blockbuster? It’s called “Bend Over For Beckham” …

Inigo Montoya

Can’t we find somebody to convince DB that he needs to continue to train in Europe to stay fit for England? Don’t the European clubs start training in August?

Given how he performed in 2008, I can’t see any benefit (on the field) to having Beckham return for the rest of this season. Donovan yes definitely, even Eskandarian yes, but not DB. Unless DB decides to commit (yeah, right), he’s mostly a waste of space.

Of course, AEG wants him on the field because they want to make back the money in the sales of shirts and shriekers’ tickets. But I have a feeling (a hope?) those sales will continue to dwindle as they did last year, and AEG might help him out the door.

As much as I hated Lalas during his Galaxy stint, I have to confess that after reading that story I don’t think of him as badly. I’m glad he has found his niche as a broadcaster.

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